Calls of the Distant Swans
by Absol Master
Summary: For DarkBlaziken's fanfic challenge 3. How much he wishes that he could make amends, how much he wishes he had done so many things that he did not. But they are gone, and there is no way to turn back time...is there? Eliwood-centric oneshot. Rushed summar


I'm sure this story's rushed. I wanted to finish it before DarkBlaziken left on holiday. So here it is. The item I chose was the ring that reverses time.

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Calls of the Distant Swans

Standing at his study window, Eliwood gazed austerely at the dawn horizon to the east, anticipating the glorious sunrise that greeted Pherae everyday. He found it the only solace he could find, in the midst of his ever-growing duties as Marquess Pherae and his pain from the departure of so many whom he loved.

He sighed, wishing he could have done something for them.

Returning from his short, regretful reminiscence, he found himself turning to the lake close to the edge of the visible land, which stood among tall trees of the forest. It was like a mirror in the midst of the roughness, a place where many went to enjoy the afternoons in the light from the water body.

He had been there before, ten years ago. But at that time, there had been swans there. Swans, with their glorious calls on victorious wings, had once ruled the lake, graceful creatures that held everyone's awe and admiration, even his.

But then, the year he had turned sixteen, a group of bandits had entered Pherae. They had first gone to his father for a grant, such that they could buy themselves homes and start anew, but Lord Elbert, strangely wary of everyone all of a sudden, had refused. Then they had returned to inhabit the forest, and had hunted all the swans to extinction.

_Why? _Eliwood wondered, recalling the bandits' calloused hands, their scarred faces, all eager with the prospect of a new life. Why had Elbert chosen to deny them that? Every man had a right to happiness…

_Even my father, _he thought with guilt. Hadn't he _himself_ denied his father that, by his actions? Days before Lord Elbert had vanished from the castle for what he now knew had been the last time, they had had an argument. About the stupidest of things. Horse riding lessons! Elbert had insisted on his learning to ride the horse, and he had fought back, verbally, with all his might.

Now, he rode the horse with so much ease, and it had been almost as useful a skill as sword fighting had been. He wished he had realised, and now it hurt him to know that his father had left the world in sadness, in distance from him.

Thinking of the past somehow, inevitably, led him to thoughts about Ninian. Ninian…she had been a blessing to his life. She had already been around for a year before Nergal had come into their lives, performing around the castle and doing servant duties. And they had become husband and wife later. But she had died while having their first son, Roy.

How much he now wished he had made known to her the depths of his feelings! It was lost now. She, too, had left the world before he had even had the chance to tell her everything.

He wistfully twisted the ring on his fourth finger, the one Ninian had given to him upon their engagement. Its silver body had been engraved with strange words, probably of an ancient language, which he could not read. It looked like some of Ninian's dancing rings, but it was more plain, yet more intriguing. There were wavy designs along its length, embossed into the metal.

It was the last gift he had from Ninian, and he would treasure it with his life and soul.

Eliwood heard toddling footsteps as he turned the ring about his finger. Glancing around, he saw Roy, four this year, with his stuffed bear in hand, red hair, so much like his own, bright in the morning sun.

"Dad…good morning," he said comprehensibly.

Eliwood smiled warmly and reached out to carry him. But as his finger left the ring, a strange crackling, like magic, surrounded him. He glanced about, puzzled, before he suddenly felt as if he were being pulled upwards through the darkness of another place, into who knew where.

-

Then he suddenly found himself standing before Elbert. _Elbert! _He had been about to shout out in amazement, at this impossible happening, before he noticed his father's expression of sharp anger.

"You know that it is for your own good! You have to learn, or you will never succeed in battle!"

Weren't these the exact words he had heard his father scold, when he had been sixteen? He gasped. Was he suddenly…in the past? Should he play along?

Before he could think, rebellion and anger was stirring in his blood, just as it had that day. "No, definitely not! You aren't going to waste my time with useless skills like that," he yelled back. As he had before. "I fight well enough without a horse already!"

"I only…care for you," Elbert said. "It'd be useful. It might save your life, Eliwood. You'll need it!"

_"I don't want your care," _would have been his answer, had he not noticed the pain and true concern in his father's eyes. But now he knew that his father was going to die less than a year from now. He saw, and he realised that this would be his way of making it up, allowing him to leave the world on a better note. It was a chance he had, now.

"Dad…you should have said so earlier," he said. "I shouldn't anger you any more. Every person in the world…has his or her own right to joy and happiness. Why should I anger you over some horse riding lessons? Besides, it _would _be useful."

Lord Elbert's expression changed to shock, then to joy. "You're…you're right, Eliwood," he replied. "About happiness. I think I've committed such a crime of taking a man's joy before…I should change. So…when should the lessons start? Oh, never mind, I'll arrange it myself."

So this was what would have happened? He felt stupid now. Stupid for ever having made the other choice before.

Eliwood walked through the corridors of the castle, trying to spot all the differences from the present-day castle that it bore. Some pieces of furniture were differently placed, and some metal pieces weren't tarnished so much. That day, he recalled, he had actually gone to his room to sit and sulk, but now he was changing his past, and he wouldn't do the same. He took himself down to the entrance, to see if he could find anyone he knew.

"Eliwood!" he whirled around at the shout and almost fell over from shock. There stood Ninian, ordinary maid clothes on, her hair tied messily with a strip of cloth, as she swept the entrance hall with a broom. She smiled and bowed, then said nothing more. Eliwood recognized her shy personality instantly. It was so endearing, he suddenly noticed as he watched. It was so hard to believe that they had merely been acquaintances at this point in time.

"Why are you doing servant duties?" he asked, coming closer. "It's not really…becoming, for a beautiful girl like you."

She blushed and stepped further away. "It's only my job," she said. "I've foreseen…an early death for myself, and I think I should spend the rest of my life on useful things like that."

Eliwood glanced down at her hands and noticed two rings on either of her index fingers. He went up to her, suspecting something of the rings, and lifted her right hand. The ring it bore was exactly the same as the one he had now, right down to the symbols.

"What does that say?" he asked, pointing out the string of symbols.

She was too busy turning red to hear his voice. "Ninian?"

"Oh! Um…I made that ring myself. It says 'Ninian's Elegy', since I made it out of…depression, at the fate I saw. It can transport a person back in time, but I haven't tried…I don't dare. The only way to end it is to break it…" She sighed. "There are times you wish you didn't know when you were about to die, you know…But I intend to give it to someone, before I die…"

_Ninian's Elegy._ Now he knew what it meant, he wished he could tell her what else he knew about their future. But it would sound so strange.

"You know, I think it's really well-made," he said, trying to turn their conversation away from something so dark and distressing to her. "I'd love to be the person to have it…though you don't have to give it to me. Give it to someone who really means a lot to you; maybe your future husband. I'm sure he'll be someone who loves you a lot."

Ninian glanced up, her gaze seeming to say, _how do you know so much? _But she remained silent and nodded, smiling.

Eliwood walked away into the garden. He glanced down at the ring in his right hand. Recalling what she had said about returning to the present, he took it off his finger.

Should he break it? It was the last thing Ninian had left him.

…But that wasn't true, was it? She had also left him a fine son, and a painting of memories that he would never forget.

So he took the ring and broke it against the castle wall.

The pulling and whooshing began again, and before he could register much, Eliwood suddenly found himself at the windowsill, looking down at Roy, reaching out to hold him up. He carried his son up and turned to the window, feeling the broken ring in his right hand with some pain and regret, but more certainty than ever.

A beautiful trumpet crossed the lake, the wind, to their window. "Look," Roy exclaimed in delight. "The swans are calling again!"

Eliwood blinked and looked closer. He didn't see any of the majestic white birds, but he heard their silvery calls to the bright morning, and that was enough. Somehow, Elbert had changed his mind, and allowed the bandits to live in the city, and the swans had not died.

Had it been because of him? Because of what he had said?

_Every person in the world has his or her right to joy and happiness…_

Then they watched the sun soar into the blueness above the lake and pour its molten golden light over everything, the swans calling in the dew.

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Hm…I don't know how good it is; haven't proofread, to tell the truth.


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